


Name It

by followsrabbit



Series: practical magic [1]
Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 07:01:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9424484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/followsrabbit/pseuds/followsrabbit
Summary: “Why don’t you jump into the Black Lake? Tell me if there’s truly a giant squid down there.”Noora began to turn on her heel—only to hear laughter brushing William's breath. “Alright.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by: 'You know, i was joking when i suggested you jump into the lake and see if there really is a giant squid, and i’m still not sure why you needed to take your clothes off to do this'

“Just tell me what I have to do.”

Noora had already turned to walk back to the castle when William’s voice filled the grounds’ mid-afternoon hush. In theory, studying by the lake on one of Hogwarts’ rare sunny afternoons had sounded relaxing. Pretty. Warm. A welcome break from the perpetual Scottish drizzle.

In practice, it left her far more open to the dubious advances of Slytherin’s most arrogant seventh year—which, given the house’s reputation, was something of a feat—than the Gryffindor common room would have. _Especially_ since Jonas and Isak had stolen Eva’s company for the day.

Noora realized that she should have ignored him from the moment his shadow fell over her parchments and books. That she should definitely continue walking now, and cut off any vestige of conversation. Yet, as the late spring sunlight danced from her short hair to her pale cheeks, Noora felt her lips curve. “To convince me to go out with you?”

In the time that she had taken to pause, William had managed to catch up with her. He stood before her now, his dark hair falling across his forehead in that _ridiculous_ style he always wore and mouth crooked into that aggravating smile he _always_ gave her, no matter how blatantly she dismissed him. “Name it.” She hated that she had to look up at him. She hated that, once she did, his smile spread to his—irritatingly bright—eyes.  

“There’s nothing.” She tilted her chin towards the clear sky and forced herself to believe her own words. _Nothing_. Not his wide grin and not his intense gaze and certainly not his easy confidence. Things came too easily to purebloods as pretty and rich as William Magnusson, and she had no intention of numbering among them.

Impervious to her resolve, he only kept staring at her. “There’s always something.” 

Noora rolled her eyes. (There was nothing cute about the way he had to push his hair out of his eyes.) (There  _wasn’t_.)

“There is,” he said, grabbing at her hesitation like a seeker with a snitch.

Tilting her head, Noora widened her smile into something more mocking. _Better_. “Why don’t you jump into the Black Lake? Tell me if there’s truly a giant squid down there.”

 _There._ She began to turn on her heel—only to hear laughter brushing his breath. “Alright.”

Noora whirled around. “Alright what?”

He had already started undoing the green-and-silver-striped knot of his tie. “Did you think the giant squid would scare me off?” he asked, his lips curled in either amusement or incredulity.

Noora’s teeth caught the tip of her tongue as William discarded his tie to the ground and began unbuttoning his shirt. Not _scare_ him. William Magnusson was, by all accounts, foolhardily brash, ever ready for a fight, whether by wand’s point or bloody knuckles. She hadn’t thought he would be afraid—just that he wouldn’t bother.

She averted her gaze when he moved on from shrugging off his shirt to pulling off his trousers. She told herself that her heart wasn’t racing. A second later, she told herself that her eyes didn’t _mean_ to dart back to him. “Willhelm, you don’t have to--”

But it was too late. He had already jumped into the water.

“I wasn’t serious!” she called after his splash, too breathless with disbelief to laugh.

He burst from the water, dark hair soaked flat against his forehead. It shouldn’t have looked attractive. But he was grinning and laughing and somehow—

Noora shook her head, groping for words.

\--and somehow her breath was catching. Somehow Noora got the sense that the majority of Hogwarts’ female population would agree that William looked even better out of his uniform than in it; a horrifying prospect given just how profusely admired he already was, bared abdominal muscles _notwithstanding_ \--

“I wasn’t serious,” she repeated finally, crossing her arms at her chest.

The corners of William’s mouth twitched when he shushed her. “Quiet. I’m looking for the squid.”

“I’m not going out with you for this,” she said, forcing herself to keep eye contact.

Lake water flew from his hair with the quick jerk of his head. “Come on. You have more honor than that.”

And, yes, the Sorting Hat had sorted her into Gryffindor precisely because of what it had termed a ‘steadfast moral code,’ but… “You’re not going to find the giant squid,” she said finally.

William raised one eyebrow, and then dove.

* * *

Noora knew that she should leave.

She should have left the minute—the second—that William had disappeared beneath the dim water, and given him a practical demonstration of her disinterest. Standing here, squinting into the distance for him, _waiting_ for him—it could only give him the wrong impression. Noora realized this.

But, here she stood, books clutched to her chest, teeth catching her lower lip as she counted how many seconds had passed since he’d last broken the lake’s surface.

“ _William_ ,” she muttered, just low enough that it sounded like a curse, as she pulled her lower lip between her teeth.

 _Idiot. Selfish, spoiled, manipulative_ idiot.  

But he was a selfish, spoiled, manipulative idiot who still hadn’t come up for air.

“Willhelm?” she called finally, the heels of her her palms twitching at her sides as she peered into the distance. Nearing the lake’s edge with grudging steps, she willed him to appear. Willed herself to leave.

“Willhelm!” Noora tried again. Her tongue darted against her lips, trying to sponge away the note of helplessness, concern coating them. Misplaced. Both emotions. William had chosen to jump into the lake for himself. William could clearly swim just fine. Even if a giant squid were squeezing the life out of him right now, it had absolutely nothing to do with her.

(Except for the fact that she had given him the idea.)

Her bare toes cringed with each stride she inched into moist soil. “William?” she tried again, voice taut and muscles tauter. Her shoulders were stiff, her patience shredded, and her stomach squirming. 

“Idiot,” she murmured, as much to herself as to the boy shrouded by the lake’s depths. Noora ground her teeth, tugged her robe off, and jumped.

* * *

The day was warm. The water was not. As soon as she dunked her head, the Black Lake sent a chill from her scalp to her toes and back again. When Noora broke to the surface a second later, it was as much for the sun as it was for the air.

Noora took a deep breath, and then dove back under, feeling stupid and useless and lost and all too aware that _this was dumbest thing she’d ever done_. She didn’t know why she was kicking her legs through murky lake water. William was _fine_. She owed him nothing.

Less than nothing, she corrected herself a moment later, at the sight of his lean form darting up from the depths towards the foggy surface.

Her head slumped back. _The dumbest thing she’d ever done._

Noora wondered how long she could hide down here. If she could wait him out. But her cheeks were already puffed with all the oxygen she lacked, bubbles were already spurting from her mouth, and, in spite of herself, she was already rising for a breath of fresh air.

When she gasped into the warm breeze once more, William was taking greedy breaths, attention trained into the distance as he searched the grass for some sight of something. Of her probably. He spun immediately at the sound of her first inhale.

He blinked once, and then stopped blinking altogether. A thick gulp passed down Noora’s throat; she raised her hands to push away the wet hair stuck to her cheeks, if only to distract herself from his staring. From the slow smile spreading across his lips.

“Hi.”

Noora tried to cross her arms, only to unfold them a minute later to better tread in the water. “Hi.” Then she remembered the soaked, white blouse pasted to her chest and crossed them again, kicking her legs faster and harder.

“You were worried about me,” he said as she began to swim away, voice so pleased that she couldn’t tell whether he meant it as an observation or a question.

“No,” she threw over her shoulder, swimming ever more swiftly towards land. Noora could hear him splashing behind her, gaining on her, his body unburdened by the extra weight slowing her strides—namely, the skirt clinging to her thighs and the shirt slick against her stomach.

“You were worried about me,” he repeated, more certain this time.

Noora dunked her head again, drowned her blush, and kept swimming.

* * *

(As it turned out, he _did_ encounter the giant squid.)

(Noora was, admittedly, curious as to what an encounter with a giant squid entailed.)

(That was the _only reason_ she spent her next Hogsmeade weekend sipping hot cocoa with him.)


End file.
